Opunake School

Opunake School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 16 months of the Education Review Office and Opunake School working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz

Context 

Opunake School in South Taranaki caters for students in Years 1 to 8.

Opunake School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • to provide a culture which promotes rich and relevant learning and assessment practices which engages learners, teachers, and whānau to achieve excellence

  • for provision of a culture that develops high levels of learning and motivation for all learners through developing a school climate which promotes learning

  • for all teachers to develop an understanding of current research and pedagogies that support equitable learning opportunities for all learners

  • to develop a culture which supports and respects the wellbeing of learners in a safe and caring learning and working environment

  • to promote a culture where learning partnerships are promoted to encourage proactive learning; whānau as partners in learning, and community support for the school, and learners

  • a board of trustees and principal who develop a culture which practises ethical decision making, and social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Opunake School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the schools’ deliberate actions achieve the desired outcomes of positive wellbeing, self-efficacy, resilience, and culturally responsive teaching, promoting learner success.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • strategic aims have determined a range of deliberate actions to further promote positive student wellbeing, facilitate learner efficacy and strengthen culturally responsive teaching practice to achieve successful outcomes for learners. ERO and the school will work together to measure the success and gain evaluative insights into the impact of these actions on learner progress, engagement, attendance, wellbeing, and learner self-efficacy.

The school expects to see:

  • equity and excellence for students demonstrated in their progress, wellbeing, attendance, self-efficacy, and cultural identity

  • effective teaching and learning, reflecting shared strategies and new approaches, in the delivery of the culturally responsive curriculum practice and strategies to achieve purposeful learner engagement at school

  • the schools’ localised curriculum is documented overtime to reflect shared expectations for teaching, learning and culturally responsive practice.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for learners:

  • classroom environments are positive and productive, encouraging the purposeful engagement of students in learning

  • access to, and co-ordination of, support for learners with additional and complex needs provides comprehensive tracking, monitoring, and outcome information to determine the impact on learner outcomes and supports evaluative insights

  • collaborative practice between staff and access to relevant professional learning and development (PLD) encourages shared practice and promotes the implementation of strategies and approaches to achieve the schools desired outcomes for learner success.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • continued opportunities for teachers to share practice and participate in PLD aligned to the school’s strategic and annual priorities to promote student wellbeing, efficacy, and building culturally responsive teacher capability and curriculum practice  

  • ongoing documenting of changes to Opunake School curriculum, inclusive of culturally responsive practice, as new approaches and strategies for the promotion of learner wellbeing and self-efficacy are embedded into practice

  • gathering information, at points in time, using progress data, observation of practice and stakeholder voice to inform evaluation insights into the impact of their deliberate actions on outcomes for learners. 

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

25 September 2023

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Opunake School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of March 2023, the Opunake School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Opunake School Board.

The next School Board assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

25 September 2023

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Opunake School - 25/06/2018

School Context

Opunake School in South Taranaki caters for students in Years 1 to 8. Students enrol from the township and surrounding rural area. At the time of this review, there were 211 students on the roll, 48% of whom identify as Māori.

The school’s vision is: Educate to Innovate. This is enacted through: Growing children with PRIDE - perseverance, respect, initiative, diligence and empathy. Valued outcomes are for students to believe that they can: learn, succeed, create, think, manage themselves and be empowered.

In 2018, the school aims for there to be high levels of achievement in reading, writing and mathematics, with supporting targets for improvement in the achievement of Māori students and boys.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • reading, writing and mathematics, including progress and acceleration for target groups and individuals

  • engagement for learning.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

School data for 2017 indicates that most students achieve at or above expectation in mathematics; and a large majority achieve at or above in reading and writing.

The percentage of Māori students achieving at or above expectations is comparable to that of their peers in the school.

Over the past three years, there has been an increase in the overall percentage of students achieving at or above expectations in mathematics. Reading and writing achievement has remained stable overall, with a continued small disparity in writing achievement for boys in comparison with girls.

Achievement for Year 8 students is higher than that for students overall in the school.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

School data shows accelerated progress and improved outcomes for the majority of identified target learners in 2017.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Students are supported to actively participate in and meaningfully contribute to their learning. To promote high levels of engagement, the school prioritises development of teaching knowledge and practices. It provides students with extensive opportunities to learn through an innovative curriculum. This includes eLearning, use of digital technologies, and teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Technology for Years 7 and 8 seeks to deepen learning through real world challenges. Learning through play in junior classes supports engagement in self-initiated learning linked to students’ interests. Students work capably at challenging tasks. They are self-guided, curious, problem solving learners.

Equity and excellence for all learners is promoted. School and class goals, aims and targets are well considered, implemented and managed. Leaders and teachers use comprehensive assessment and focused teaching to identify, respond to, track and monitor Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Plans, programmes, initiatives, interventions and targeted resourcing cater for students with additional and diverse needs and scaffold their learning. External agencies and specialists are used appropriately.

Collaborative practices support learning. School leaders capably and collectively drive improvement goals and targets. Staff are collectively responsible for and know all students well. They promoted positive, inclusive learning environments.

Teacher professional learning and development and inquiry are closely aligned with the school’s goals and priorities for improved and accelerated achievement through teacher knowledge and practice. Leaders and teachers reflect on the effectiveness of their practice and strategies for supporting student outcomes. Staff have opportunities and are encouraged to take on leadership roles, using their strengths and interests.

Parent and whānau involvement in and understanding of their children’s learning is effectively promoted. A wide range of strategies are used to share information between home and school. Transition to and through the school is flexible and responsive to the needs of children and their families. There is a strong sense of community within the school and of connection to the wider community.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

As part of review and development of the school’s curriculum, priority should be to further extend culturally responsive practices to improve outcomes for Māori learners and reflect whānau aspirations for their children.

The school should strengthen internal evaluation to systematically evaluate how well and to what extent practice, strategies, programmes and innovations promote improved and accelerated learning. Findings should then be used to inform decision-making for ongoing and future development.

3 Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board and principal of the school completed the ERO board assurance statement and self-audit checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to the following:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • finance
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration and certification
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
  • attendance
  • school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

  • an innovative curriculum that provides students with extensive, engaging and challenging opportunities for learning and their development as learners

  • achieving outcomes for students, that are largely equitable and show good levels of achievement overall

  • a culture of collaboration among leaders, teachers and parents, that promotes high expectations for teaching and learning throughout the school.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

  • documentation and implementation of the curriculum to further extend culturally responsive practices for Māori leaners and reflect whānau aspirations

  • strengthening systematic use of internal evaluation, to better identify and understand the impacts of teaching on learning, and inform decision making for the future.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.

Patricia Davey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

25 June 2018

About the school

Location

Taranaki

Ministry of Education profile number

2216

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 - 8)

School roll

211

Gender composition

Male 59%, Female 41%

Ethnic composition

Māori 48%
Pākehā 47%
Other ethnic groups 5%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

No

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

May 2018

Date of this report

25 June 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Report April 2015
Education Report June 2011
Education Report November 2008